Page 43 of The Sea Siren of Broadwater Bottom
Edward eyed Elissa. “You don’t have to do it.”
“No, I—I want to. It’s really not that far, is it?” she said, studying the gap. “I’m not about to miss the haunted tower.”
“In that case.” Edward released her hand and cleared the gap with one big step. It didn’t take him much effort, but of course, he was six-foot-two. Elissa only came up to his chin.
“Get a good running start,” he called into the wind. “I’ll catch you. I promise.”
She looked nervous, but also determined as she took a few steps back and gathered her skirts in one hand. She rocked back onto her heel, then sprinted forward, taking the leap before she could change her mind.
It turned out she didn’t need him; she cleared the gap with more than a foot to spare. But this had the fortunate effect of causing her body to go crashing into Edward’s.
He caught her in his arms, pulling her flush against his chest. He hadn’t been this close to her since the day he found her at the pond, but his body thrilled to the familiar feeling of her in his arms. He knew the gentlemanly thing would be to release her, but instead, he found one of his arms stealing around her waist and the other coming up to frame her face, and without even realizing he was going to do it, he leaned down and kissed her.
The moment his lips touched hers, panic set in. Because as much as Edward wanted to kiss Elissa St. Cyr, the truth was, he didn’t know what he was doing. The handful of times he had been cornered and kissed, his focus had been on extricating himself, not learning what to do with his lips and tongue. Now he just… froze.
Elissa had frozen too. They were just standing there, their mouths pressed against each other, both of them as stiff as a board. He thought he needed to move his lips over hers, but he wasn’t sure how, and he felt sostupidthat he was seven and twenty and he didn’t even know how to properly kiss a woman. He swallowed, trying to tamp down the failure rising like bile in his throat. What had he beenthinking? This was adisaster. The only woman he truly wanted to think well of him, and he had made a complete and utter fool of himself!
But then, the most remarkable thing happened. Elissa made a sound, full of wonder, somewhere between a sigh and a moan. She absolutely melted into his chest. He realized she was trembling.
Suddenly he didn’t feel like such a failure after all. He forced his lips to soften, to relax. He slowly opened his mouth and tentatively traced the outline of her lips with his tongue.
“Oh!” she cried, in what sounded very much like pleasure. So he did it again, and again after that. Hesitantly, she opened her own mouth, and her body jerked as if she’d been struck by lightning her when his tongue brushed hers.
By this time, she was shaking so hard that it was growing difficult to kiss, so he moved his lips to her cheek. He traced a path of kisses across her jawline, over to her ear, then down to the delicate, petal-soft skin of her neck. This did nothing to alleviate her trembling, but she continued making little sounds of pleasure.
He tried to kiss her again, but she was shaking so hard he couldn’t maintain contact, so instead he gathered her to him, burying his face in her hair.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” she said, her voice unsteady.
“Edward,” he said without thinking. “Call me Edward.”
“My—my Edward.”
He groaned aloud, because surely that was the sweetest sound in the English language.
“It’s just—” she shook her head, as if she were in a daze. “I’ve never been kissed before. I think my reaction is fairly normal. Isn’t a girl supposed to tremble when she gets kissed by the man of her dreams?”
Her eyes flew open, and her characteristic oh-dear-what-have-I-done expression came over her features. “Did… did I say that out loud?”
He couldn’t keep the joy from his voice. “Yes. Yes, you did.”
She peered up at him, her cheeks scarlet. “I don’t suppose you could forget I said it?”
He ran his thumb tenderly across her cheek. “Never.”
And then he lowered his lips back down to hers, and although she was still trembling, they managed well enough. Her mouth was indescribably sweet against his, and his confidence grew with each sigh of pleasure that rose from her throat. She snaked her arms up around his neck, and when he traced his tongue across the seam of her lips, she opened for him. Her tongue hesitantly began to tangle with his, and now it was his turn to groan.
He was tracing his hand down the length of her spine, pulling her closer, when an unwelcome voice came wafting from the far side of the castle.
“Lord Fauconbridge? Lord Fauconbridge? Where are you?”
Edward had never in his life cursed before a lady, but he had to bite down the urge at the unwelcome news that Araminta Grenwood was bearing down upon them.
To his regret, Elissa took a step back and began smoothing her dress. Edward sighed and likewise began straightening his coat.
She reached up to tuck an escaped curl back in place. “How do I look?” she asked.
“Beautiful,” he answered at once. Even more so, he thought, with the embarrassed-but-pleased smile that stole across her face.
